National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Goddard Space Flight Center

Space Weather Action Center

SPACE WEATHER ACTION CENTER

Above: This is an example of a Space Weather Report.

Imagine being able to monitor the progress of an entire solar storm from the time it erupts from our sun until it sweeps past our small planet effecting enormous changes in our magnetic field. Now imagine being able to do all of this from your classroom-based Space Weather Action Center (S.W.A.C.)! By following the basic steps in the Instructional Guide your class will soon be on its way to accessing, analyzing and recording NASA satellite and observatory data. You will also want to download the 'step-by-step' Educator's Setup Guide where you will find a variety of recommendations and diagrams showing you how to construct a fully functional SWAC inside your classroom while keeping potential limitations on classroom space and technology in mind.

Once established your class will be ready to move into the second cross-disciplinary phase of the program where they will transform their journal data into real S.W.A.C. news reports! We've made this phase easy by providing an adaptable SWAC script! All they have to do is fill in the missing pieces based on the data collected in their student journals. In the S.W.A.C. Setup Guide we have suggested several very inexpensive alternative methods by which you can produce multimedia Space Weather Action Reports.

Downloadable Materials

Above: This is an example of a Space Weather Action Center that you might set up in your classroom.

We have recently updated all of these materials to Version 4 (V4). Please make sure you have the latest versions.

FLIP CHARTS

With these Flip Charts your students will be able to analyze data and predict a solar storm with ease and accuracy by following the step by step instructions. Each Flip Chart contains introductory space weather information and tips on data analysis and website navigation!

Educational Guides

The Instructional Guide follows the 5E Learning Cycle. Included in the guide are Instructional Objectives, Standards Connections and Activities. Every activity has been carefully designed to follow the sequence of events that occur during typical Solar Storm and are therefore comprised of the following four main sections: Sunspot Regions, Storm Signals, Magnetosphere, Auroras.

More Resources

Research Shows

"More teachers nationwide are using video as an instructional tool. Video assignments motivate students to go beyond what is expected of them. Plus, the cost of digital video cameras and editing software keeps dropping, while the ease of use increases"